The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 55

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN CITY THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2000 D3 Boy killed 'over deck of smokes' in Cornwall 4 By Aaron Sands CORNWALL The theft of a half-pack of cigarettes sparked a series of confrontations that ended with the vicious stabbing death of a 16-year-boy here Tuesday night. Aaron Ringer, 22, returned yesterday to the residential back yard where he cradled his best friend and roommate, Jason Bergeron, 16, as he bled to death shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday. "Senseless," Mr. Ringer said, staring at the bloodstained ground.

"He was like my brother. And he's dead. Over a deck of smokes. I held him as he died. He bled all over me." After their 15-year-old friend told of how two men roughed him up and snatched his cigarettes earlier that i i.

evening, Jason and his two best friends, brothers Aaron and Casey Ringer, sought vengeance. Around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, they approached the men in front of a Guy Street home in the city's east end. When one of the men pulled a knife and began screaming wildly, the trio backed off, Mr. Ringer said.

About an hour later, as the boys strolled down Carleton Street on their way to a friend's house, Mr. Ringer said 1 i 4 ft it PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson presented keys to the city to the Karsh brothers, Yousuf and Malak. Only Malak, seen among his beloved tulips, was able to attend. Ottawa, Karsh brothers exchange tributes the two men pulled up behind them in a BERGERON pickup truck. Jason and Mr.

Ringer sprinted into the yard behind the two-storey home at 319 Carleton St. while one of the men jumped out of the truck and chased them. Mr. Ringer nimbly hopped the eight-foot wire fence at the end of the yard and Jason tried to follow him. He almost made it.

As Jason clung to the top of the fence, the man chasing him yanked him down. Hearing his best friend's cries for help, Mr. Ringer stopped and turned around. "Jason grabbed a hold of the guy and punched him good four or five times," Mr. Ringer said.

"Then the guy pulled out his knife and just stabbed him, over and over again." As the suspect fled, Mr. Ringer jumped back over the fence into the yard, where Jason lay bleeding from a stab wound to his chest and several to his back. "He said, 'I'm going to die, Aaron, I'm going to I said, 'No you're not. You're not going to He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Cornwall General Hospital It is the city's first homicide since December 1998. News of Jason's death spread fast among the young skateboarders, who arrived at the murder scene yesterday to pay their respects to a boy known as "Stumpy." They described Jason as a popular boy with a passion for skateboarding.

"Everybody in Cornwall knows Stumpy," said 15-year-old Rachel Julien. "He was the skater that had stumpy little legs, a pudgy little face, red hat backwards, wings for hair and a smile that made everyone happy. He was my Stumpy." "He almost made it over the fence," Mr. Ringer said. "But he's too short, eh?" Cornwall police spokesman Blake Paquin said investigators are looking for any witnesses to the confrontation that took place in the hour before the killing.

Mr. Paquin said police had no suspects in custody last night and no weapon had been recovered. Pesticides 'not worth the risk5 NCC horticulturalist switched from spraying to organic approach BY LESIA MANCHULENKO The benefits of pesticide use are not worth risking the public's health, says prominent Ottawa horticulturist Ed Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence, chief of greenhouse and grounds services for the official residences at the National Capital Commission, says it's better to err on the side of caution.

"If there is evidence to show that there are real problems, like childhood leukemia, then if we're going to be making mistakes, we should definitely be making them on the side of safety," he said. His statements follow a report by the House of Commons environment committee, which recommends a ban on pesticides for cosmetic purposes. As chief overseer of all of the official residences, including Rideau Hall, 24 Sussex Drive and Stornoway, Mr. Lawrence has also supervised the switch in the last sue years from regular chemical spraying of the grounds to an almost completely organic approach. But Landscape Ontario a provincial trade organization with 1,700 landscapes and designers disagrees with Mr.

Lawrence. The group sees the proposed amendment as an overreac-tion and a threat to Ontario's $3.5 billion a year horticulture industry. "The public wants healthy gardens," said Tony DiGiovanni, executive director for Landscape Ontario. "We are horticulturalists first. There are ways where you don't have to use pesticides, but they're not as effective." Mr.

DiGiovanni sees no evidence to suggest responsible use of pesticides is unsafe, citing a 1997 Canadian Cancer Society study that found no "definitive evidence to suggest that synthetic pesticides contribute significantly to overall cancer mortality." Landscape Ontario first responded to Liberal MP Marlene Jennings' private member's Bill C-388, which would allow a pesticide ban on private and public property. Mr. DiGiovanni sent a letter on April 12 to all members saying the bill makes "broad sweeping allegations which are not founded" about the links between pesticide use and diseases like leukemia, brain and stomach cancer. Currant NCC policy promotes "integrated pest management which allows for minimal use of chemicals on an exceptional basis." NCC spokesman Gilles Le Breton says chemicals are rarely used on NCC lands. General spraying has not been done for more than six years and Parliament Hill is an entirely pesticide-free zone.

"People are going to have to generally question, 'Do we need to have turf that looks like a putting green on every single Mr. Lawrence said. "Or maybe it's a case of accepting a few more insects as opposed to sick kids." West Carleton residents free of lead poisoning West Carleton residents have not suffered lead poisoning from mine tailings used throughout the community, the region's associate medical officer of health told a public meeting of about 100 residents last night. But some children under four do have levels that are significantly higher than those found in children who live outside the area, Dr. Edward Ellis said.

However, even those levels were not high enough to worry public health officials, Dr. Ellis stressed. Dr. Ellis was in West Carleton last night for a meeting with residents, along with officials from the Environment Ministry and Ministry of Mines. They reported on tests of people, water, soil and wildlife following last year's discovery of high lead levels in tailings from the former Kingdon Mine on Morris Island near Galetta.

The tailings are widely used in the area for driveways, roads, fill and landscaping. In addition to the blood tests, Environment Ministry spokesman Charles Goulet reported on tests of wells and groundwater in the area of the mine. They found only a single instance in which lead exceeded acceptable levels. Further tests on surface water, soil and wildlife particularly sport fish from the Mississippi and Syne rivers are also under way. Most won't be completed until falL Mr.

Goulet said. Some residents are anxious to remove the tailings, but were told they could not remove them without testing to see whether it is hazardous waste. If it is, they'll have to have it shipped to a hazardous waste site at their own expense, Mr. Goulet said. However, because test results have shown little impact on people, "we see no need to remove the stone from residential properties." Negotiations are under way with the mine's current owners, to see if they'll accept the material back at the site.

By Michael Prentice "Karsh of Ottawa" was too frail to make it back to his adopted city to receive its highest award yesterday, but he was here in word and spirit alongside his brother, Malak, who received the same honour. At a moving ceremony in the council chamber of Ottawa City Hall, about 400 admirers listened intently as a message was read from Yousuf Karsh, the most famous portrait photographer in the world for more than 50 years. "No matter where I travelled on my photographic journeys, it was the City of Ottawa to which I returned," Yousuf Karsh wrote from his Boston home. "I was always proud when the title 'Karsh of Ottawa' appeared underneath my photographs." The occasion was the first time in their lives that the two brothers were honoured at the same time for their photography. Mayor Jim Watson presented the key to the city to Malak, and said he will arrange for a symbolic key to be delivered to Yousuf in Boston, his home of the past two years.

Yousuf Karsh, who is 91, came to Canada from Armenia in 1924 and made his home in Ottawa in 1932. Malak, 85, followed his brother from Armenia in 1937, and lives today in the Glebe. Yousuf has retired to Boston's milder climate, but Malak remains an active landscape photographer, never tiring of photographing Ottawa's famous tulips. Mr. Watson said: "The name Karsh has become synonymous with photography." And he added: "To be 'Karshed' was to be memorably photographed by Karsh of Ottawa." Of Malak, he said: "When most tourists think of Canada, the image they envisage whether it be the majesty of the Rockies, the splendour of the fall leaves in the Gatineau Hills, or the vibrant colours of Ottawa's tulips has probably been captured to perfection by Malak's camera." zie King became my patron and made possible my photographing Winston Churchill in the Speaker's Chamber in 1941.

How proud I was when my younger brother Malak joined me in my studio and how happy I was to see how he embraced the beauty of Canada and determined to capture it in his own photography. Malak learned more than the fundamentals of photography in my studio, for it was there that he spotted Barbara and immediately claimed her as his own. It is especially meaningful to me to receive with my brother, the key to the city I love during the Tulip Festival, in which he continues to play such a significant role as one its founders. I am grateful to you, Mayor Watson, and members of council, for presenting Malak and me the key to Ottawa. You will not find two brothers more united in their love of Ottawa, and in their love of Canada.

Malak's message: I am sorry that my brother Yousuf could not be with us. He would have cherished this moment I keep imagining he is with us now enjoying all the wonderful tributes paid to him. It was here on Sparks Street where he created many of his masterpieces that have enriched our civilization. His contribution to photography is immense and for Canada and the world, rich and lasting. This award is a great honour I could only have dreamed of.

I am very happy to be surrounded by my family and close relatives, especially my life partner and wife, Barbara. Without her love, hard work and continuous support, I would not have been able to reach this delightful stage of my life. My dear wife, this key is also yours and I am happy to share this honour with you. One notable photograph I took of logs floating on the Ottawa River below Parliament Hill was reproduced on one side of the $1 bill in 1974 while my brother's photograph of the Queen appeared on the other side. It had a circulation of 3.5 billion before it was replaced by the loonie.

My second opportunity occurred when I started photographing the fabulous tulip beds that the National Capital Commission was planting to make Ottawa the most colourful capital in the world. I was very happy to help establish the Canadian Tulip Festival. It is also wonderful how this festival continues to maintain and strengthen the strong bonds of friendship between our country and the Netherlands. A rJ YousuPs message: Ottawa was the city where I chose to begin my fledgling career in photography. It was the city where I received many kindnesses from many people.

It was at the Ottawa Little Theatre that my young friend, 21-year-old handsome Lord Ducannon, asked his distinguished parents, Gov. Gen. Lord Bessborough and Lady Bessborough, if I could photograph them. It was in Ottawa that Prime Minister Macken AARON SANDS, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Brandon Lavigne, 14, left, and Trevor Chesebro, 14, stand at the spot where their friend, 16-year-old Jason Bergeron, was stabbed to death Tuesday night. DNA test links woman to man beaten to death Man's slaying was part of bloody gang war: Crown the front collar of Ms.

Burns' shirt, on the hip of her pants, and the knee of her pants was Mr. Hashi's. The lab report showing this was so conclusive that Ms. Burns' defence lawyer, Mark Ertel, chose not to challenge it or the scientist who did the report. Instead, it was entered as fact, and established that Ms.

Burns had contact with Mr. Hashi the night he died. Shortly after this, however, test results showing Mr. Hashi was severely drunk were entered. Brian Hodgson, an RCMP alcohol analysis specialist, tested Mr.

Hashi's blood shortly after he died and found a bloodalcohol reading of 407 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, more than five times the legal driving limit In fact, Mr. Hodgson said it was one of the highest readings he'd ever seen. He estimated the deceased would have had to drink at least 24 beers to get that much alcohol in his blood The case resumes tomorrow. By Jake Rupert After seven days of confusing and evasive testimony from witnesses in the manslaughter trial of a man and a woman, the prosecution pulled an ace from its sleeve yesterday. Tests done by a DNA specialist showed genetic fingerprints found in blood on the clothing worn by the female accused, Carrie Burns, 31, on the night Ahmed Ali Hashi was killed, was a match for the deceased.

Mr. Hashi, 41, was found dead in a parking lot at Merton and Armstrong streets in Hintonburg March 18, 1999, just after midnight He had been beaten. Ms. Burns and Michael Gallie, 38, are co-accused in Mr. Hashi's death.

So far in the trial, nothing has conclusively put either accused in contact with Mr. Hashi on the night he died. There has been testimony suggesting the pair may have been involved in a fight with Mr. Hashi, but nothing put one of them there until yesterday. Tests showed that blood found near Cetoute, 20, have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Mr.

NoeL 2L Their trial began yesterday and is expected to last up to six weeks. The Crown contends the gang feud prompted the three accused men to confront Mr. Noel and his brother outside the Theatre nightclub, a bar at Rideau and Dalhousie streets, at closing time on Feb. 19, 1998. Ms.

Cote said Mr. NoeL a music promoter, was giving out flyers outside the bar when the three accused men threatened to kill him and left. She said the men returned a few minutes later and threatened the Noel brothers. Mr. Sarrazin soon shot Apaid Noel in the arm, the jury was told.

Ms. Cote said Mr. Sarrazin emptied his weapon into Mr. Noel's torso as he lay on the ground. She said that Asch-ley Noel seized the weapon and the three men fled.

Apaid Noel was taken to hospital, tended to and released, only to die on March 18 from a blood clot in the lung, the jury was told. The trial continues today. By Peter Hum Apaid Noel died a victim of a bloody war between Haitian gangs when Robert Sarrazin gunned him down more than two years ago on Rideau Street, a prosecutor said yesterday. Because Mr. Sarrazin was connected to the Montreal-based gang Crackdown Posse, and Mr.

Noel was associated with a gang related to its rivals, the Bo-Gars, Mr. Noel was ambushed with a shotgun in February 1998, said assistant Crown attorney Nathalie Cote. "Here, motive is not obscure," Ms. Cote said in her opening address to a jury. "It's related to the modern phenomenon of street gangs.

That is the motive for the killing of Apaid Noel" Ms. Cote told the jury that Mr. Sarrazin fired a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun into Mr. Noel after his associates, Darlind Jean and Wolfson Cetoute, urged him on. They said 'Kill him.

Finish him oft" Ms. Cote said. Mr. Sarrazin, 28, Mr. Jean, 29, and Mr..